A Geography of Mysteries

FLORIDA - Travel to the southern tip of the continent to the exotic Florida Keys in this mystery which solves two murders and a 30-year-old scam. On the journey learn about forensic photography when narrator Alex Rutledge shares some secrets of that trade.

PENNSYLVANIA - The first Hernia Holstein Competition is interrupted by an attack on the vet in the barn, so innkeeper Magdalena Yoder has to put her honeymoon on pause and help the cows and competitors come home safe.

CALIFORNIA - Nursing Home Administrator Carla Day goes to the hippie town of Stanton's Mill, California to investigate the death of an indigo child, who has a purple aura and magic powers. Carla's sidekick is her Egyptologist father who suffers from Alzheimer's disease. A delightful romp that offers lots of interesting new age, old age, and archaeology tidbits on the side.

NEW JERSEY/NEVADA - In this latest cards and con mystery, gambling expert Tony Valentine travels from Atlantic City to Vegas to investigate the death of his son's friend who earlier bragged about knowing how to beat any poker player in the world. Set during the world's largest poker tournament and involving dangerous mobsters, this mystery will teach you a card trick or two.

INDIANA - A local Bloomington author presents an intriguing cozy in her sixth outing with orchestra manager, Joan Spencer. This one tackles ecology when a first violinist tree-sits to protest the destruction of an ancient grove. Music lore and mystery with a morel hunt added as a bonus.

WYOMING - For people who love Tony Hillerman books, this author makes a great choice. She covers Native American themes with authority and really captures the feel of the Equality State. In this mystery an animal unearths a young woman's remains from the 1970s when Native Americans came to the reservation. A crime story that will drag you in and make you feel as though you've taken a real journey.

NEW MEXICO - Albuquerque Private Eye, Bubba Mabry, is a bit of a klutz. In this, his seventh outing, he gets involved with a snoopy reporter (his wife) and with a lot of mayhem at the local zoo. A who-dun-it on the lighter side packed with solid entertainment and a whirl around New Mexico's largest city.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA - Three cops--two current and one forced out on a morals charge--work inner city Washington in this gritty mystery. Fifteen years before, the triad failed to solve a string of murders of teenagers, all possessing palindromic names such as Eve or Ava. Now another teen has been killed and the team uses their combined smarts to solve this case.

ALASKA - The latest by Edgar Award-winning Dana Stabenow features gutsy, independent sleuth, Kate Shugak, who is half Aleut and lives on a homestead near Denali National Park. In this outing, Kate investigates the murder of a championship skier who has been fighting a land grab by a gold mine owner. Environmental activism combined with ski lore and some good old-fashioned Far Northern sleuthing makes this a good bet.